[img]https://www.electrical-contractor.net/Forum/Images/LightPole-726.jpg[/img]

What an Idiot, everyone knows you need Cat 5E for HID lights.

Is that an old satellite dish?

Looks like it!

Also appears to have been painted silver to redirect light. From what I see, It looks like a newer Regent 175W Mercury Vapor head jerryrigged into an old DirecTV dish. I also like how it's tied to the pole with rope! Let the sun get to that for a few months. I sure don't wanna be standing under it when it comes down.

I've said it before, and I'll say it for years to come:

Pat. Het. Ic.

Ian A.

That is most definitely a satellite dish. You need RG6 for that.

Should have used Cat6 for maximum electrical transfer or if he later wanted to put in a Metal Halide Fixture. I'm just kidding what was wrong with the original street light?

Is that string UL Listed for support of a luminaire?
I can't see the label from the angle of the photograph.

Copper is amazing stuff. It must have some built in CYA factor that scientists haven't figured out yet. How this hasn't failed is amazing.

Is anything in the photo listed for use for this application? Once again article 110 takes a beating. If DIYer's would just follow 110 they'd win half the battle.

RSlater,
RSmike

Wow......it's had to even imagine the thought process that went into creating this abortion.

A brand new mercury vapor "barn light" is only $24 at HD/Lowes etc. And it even comes with a nice acrylic lens!

And the cobra head, assuming it's HPS (I can't make out number on the label but it looks orange) is probably twice as bright as that thing.

Looking closely, I make out a 10 on the label. It's a 100W HPS fixture.

I've seen regular "quad" telephone wire used for power before, but this is a first.

CAT3 must offer a vast improvement at 50/60Hz!

Exactly!,
Why not just reconnect the cut wires instead of cobbling together an unsafe, nasty looking think like this?.
Some people's thinking is just really wack.

The hack probably couldn't find replacement bulbs at the dollar store...

Ian A.

HPS fixtures such as this can make all kinds of buzzing sounds esp when the capacitor goes out in them. The camper probably got tired of being kept up at night by the noise.

Maybe?

I'm just glad they actually used a couple of scotch locks instead of a few wraps of 'Alabama chrome'...aka duck tape! j/k

lmao, I like it. Made my day.

How come I don't see a RED sticker??

John

THAT WAS PROBABLY A RETIRED W/I CAMPSITE

That is just classic.

All that work and you could either reconnect the original light or go buy the $25 light at the home center.

One of the finest examples of "old-man engineering", which is making do with wnatever you have lying around.

I think some serious narcotics or amphetamines may be the reason for this.

Me and a few friends got a few minutes of laughs out of this one. If I recall correctly, most communication cable insulation is only rated for around 60V or so. (I know it's too thin for 120V!)

Now that's what I improvising, I'm amazed that CAT 3 cable hasn't fried yet, that light bulb will make a nice mess if/when those ropes break.

Actually, communications cable is rated for (i think) 150v). POTS ring voltage is 90-100v at ~20hz.

24 ga paralleled is the same as 21 ga, so that's about 13 ohm/1000ft. If that run is 20' (up and back down again), that wire presents a resistance of 0.26 ohms. If that's a 240VA 120V load that's 2A of current in the wire, power lost in the wire is P=I^2*R, or about 1W. Despite how bad the installation is, that wire wouldn't even get warm. I still don't approve, and I'm sure this much thought didn't go into this installation.